Oil & Energy

Experts Demand Refinery Operators’ Compliance With Extant Laws

Published

1 year ago

August 5, 2024

Indigenous petroleum products refiners have been cautioned over attempts by some operators to monopolise the downstream petroleum sector operations.
Key industry experts and advocacy groups said monopolistic practices would destroy the industry and promote inefficiency and further drive costs to high levels.
The industry analysts were reacting to recent misunderstanding of the position of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) with regard to implementation of existing regulations to provide clement environment suitable to investors.
They also expressed concern at the cost of importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, which is raising fear of possible adjustment of pump price by marketers.
They also cautioned that expected downward pricing of refined products from Dangote refinery may not be feasible as cost of crude whether supplied locally and in local currency would be priced in relation to international benchmark.
Speaking on the sidelines of a one-day roundtable on “The Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Industry in Nigeria: The Roles of NMDPRA in ensuring Energy Security”, held in Lagos, at the Weekend, one of the discussants and energy expert, Henry Adigun, said “as at Wednesday July 31, 2024, landing cost of petrol is N1,100 per liter aside from associated costs of trucking the product to dispensing outlets”.
Adigun insisted that Nigerians should not expect a low priced product from Dangote Refinery given that the quality of products from the facility is of high premium with the crude pricing supply to the refinery not lower than what it is sold in the international market.
According to him, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is not going to sell crude below cost of production and since crude is an international product, Nigeria must be guided by international best practices.
He also warned about ongoing subsidy on petrol which has made the market uncompetitive, which he also said would continue to create disruptive supply arrangements.
In his submission, Adigun called for a substantial review of fiscal policies that will entrench competition and strong regulatory environment.
Earlier in his review of the Downstream market, another industry expert, Taiwo A. Ogunleye, said petroleum has remained an important part of both the world’s energy mix and the global economy and keystone of our modern energy system helping to drive the global economy.
He noted that petroleum plays an essential role in shaping our lives from fuelling vehicles and generating electricity to producing a wide range of everyday products and involves a wide range of commercial activities from the exploration of reserves deep in the ground to the sale of the final product to the end customer.

The industry is frequently shown in the form of a ‘value chain’, specifically a set of activities performed sequentially in order to deliver a final product, and includes upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.

Ogunleye also noted regulatory issues as key to creating efficiency and transparency in the value chain.

Citing a Report issued by the Oil, Gas, and Mining Policy Division of the World Bank, he agreed that “Inadequate regulation and enforcement can also harm the efficiency of fuel supply.

“Sector regulations that have not been updated in decades, lack sufficient coverage, or list outdated fuel specifications may deter entry of experienced operators adhering to high standards”.

He stated that an efficient legal framework for the downstream petroleum sector requires legislation that clearly defines and limits the role of the government in order to avoid undue interference and establishes principles and rules for the private and public participants in the supply chain in order to create a level playing field and promote fair, transparent, and healthy competition.

Oil & Energy

Supermajors Bet Big on Long-Term Oil Demand

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2025

The Tide

The world’s largest international oil firms are ramping up production even as crude prices have weakened this year and global supply growth continues to outpace the demand increase, setting the stage for a glut in the coming months.

The European majors are back to investing in exploration and new oil and gas field developments after years of trying – and mostly failing – to generate profits and good returns from low-carbon energy projects, including renewable electricity, green hydrogen, and biofuels.

The U.S. supermajors, ExxonMobil and Chevron, are pumping record oil volumes in the top shale region, the Permian, while betting on international project expansions in Guyana and Kazakhstan, for example. The U.S. giants both reported in the second quarter record-high production in the Permian and worldwide, following Exxon’s acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron’s buying of Hess.

France’s TotalEnergies expects higher oil and gas production to have boosted earnings for the third quarter, despite a $10 per barrel decline in oil prices since last year.

Production at the other European supermajors, Shell and BP, is also rising as the European giants shifted focus back to their core oil and gas business. The pivot took place after the energy crisis made energy security and affordability more important than sustainability, while high interest rates and supply chain issues further reduced already meager returns from clean energy projects and made many new energy ventures uncompetitive.

The supermajors are confident they can withstand the current weaker prices and the surplus on the market, to which they have contributed, alongside the national oil companies of the OPEC+ producers, which have been reversing the production cuts this year.

Big Oil is looking beyond the short-term fundamentals and glut noise, having decided to invest more in oil and gas to meet solid demand until at least the mid-2030s.

Unlike the International Energy Agency (IEA), which earlier this year doubled down on its forecast of peak oil demand by the end of this decade, Big Oil companies don’t see any peak by 2030.

BP, which said last year that global oil demand would peak as early as this year, ditched this view in its new annual Energy Outlook last month, in which it now expects oil demand to rise through 2030 amid weaker-than-expected efficiency gains.

Most majors have put the peak at some point in the 2030s, but none expect a rapid decline afterwards, and all say that oil and gas will remain essential for global economic growth and development in 2050.

“Oil and natural gas are essential. There’s no other viable way to meet the world’s energy needs,” ExxonMobil said in its 2025 Global Outlook.

“Our Global Outlook projects that oil and natural gas will make up more than half of the world’s energy supply in 2050. We project that oil demand will stabilize after 2030, remaining above 100 million barrels per day through 2050,” the U.S. supermajor reckons.

“All major credible scenarios include oil and natural gas as a dominant energy source in 2050.”

All three scenarios analyzed in Shell’s 2025 Energy Security Scenarios found that upstream investment of around $600 billion a year “will be required for decades to come as the rate of depletion of oil and gas fields is two to three times the potential future annual declines in demand.”

Exxon and now the European majors are playing the long game—invest in new oil and gas supply, at the expense of renewables, to offset with new production the accelerating natural decline of producing oil and gas fields.

Even the IEA admitted last month that the world needs to develop new oil and gas resources just to keep output flat amid faster declining rates at existing fields, in a major shift in its narrative from 2021 that ‘no new investment’ is needed in a net-zero by 2050 scenario.

Exploration is also back at the top of the agenda for Big Oil, as the companies appear confident their product will be in demand for decades to come.

The expected massive overhang later this year and early next year is not putting off the supermajors’ plans to increase production. They are slashing costs via cutting thousands of workforce numbers to protect shareholder payouts at $60 per barrel oil. Companies have pledged billions of U.S. dollars in cost savings and slimmer corporate structures. That’s to eliminate inefficiencies and excessive costs while keeping payouts to shareholders at much lower prices compared to the 2022 highs.

This year, higher oil and gas production is partly offsetting the weaker prices.

Increased output also positions the world’s biggest companies for rising profits when the glut clears within a year or so, analysts say.

“All the supply coming to the market is shrinking OPEC’s spare capacity — so there’s a light at end of the tunnel,” Barclays analyst Betty Jiang told Bloomberg this week.

“Whether that’s second half of 2026 or 2027, the balance is going to tighten. It’s just a matter of when.”

By Tsvetana Paraskova

Oil & Energy

Stakeholders Lament Poor Crude Oil Supply To Indigenous Companies …..Urges President To Pressure NNPCL To Prioritise Local Refineries

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2025

The Tide

Stakeholders in the Downstream oil sector in collaboration with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to create an enabling environment for all oil refining companies to thrive without fear or pressure of any kind.

They also want the President to mandate the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to prioritize crude oil supply to local refineries over foreign partners.

The groups made the call during the Mega Rally against economic sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum sector with the theme ‘National Unity Against sabotage: Reclaiming of Petroleum Sector for the People’, held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Addressing journalists during the rally, the Convener of Partners for National Economic Progress, Olamide Odumosu, insisted that it was unacceptable that government agencies hide under the “willing supplier, willing buyer” clause to frustrate the supply of crude to local refineries.

Odumosu called on president Tinubu to ensure that crude oil supply to the dangote refinery is not debatable.

Odumosu described the recent expansion of the Dangote refinery from 650,000m bpd to 1.4m bpd as not just a national glory but a continental and global one expressing regrets however, that the Dangote refinery now rely on the international scene for crude .

In his words “As an oil producing country, the matter of supply of crude to local refineries (in this case, the Dangote Refinery) is not only a matter of Law as stated in the Petroleum Industry Act, but a manner of patriotic duty, national consciousness and economic prosperity drive. It is very sad, unfortunate and embarrassing that Dangote Refinery imports crude from other countries due to his inability to source it at home.

“It is for this reason that the PIA encourages regulatory agencies to formulate policies that will ensure the supply of crude to local refineries, including imposing sanctions where necessary”.

On his path, the convener of Niger Delta Youth council, comrade Danielson Prince, condemned the practice of importing crude oil from outside the shores of the country.

Prince noted that such was detrimental to Nigeria’s economy while calling on the President to pressure NNPC to sell crude oil to Nigerian companies within Nigeria.

“However, this is both a journey and a struggle. And we will not rest, will we get to the desired destination and victory achieved. There are still very important issues to address”, he stated.

Prince described the situation as sad stating that it was unfortunate and embarrassing that Dangote Refinery imports crude from other countries due to his inability to source it at home.

Odumosu also emphasized that it is unacceptable for government agencies in the country to hide under the willing supplier clause to frustrate the supply of crude oil to local refining companies in the country.

TheTide learnt that similar rallies were recently organized in Abuja, Kaduna and Asana respectively.

By: King Onunwor

Oil & Energy

Investors Raise $500m For Solar Manufacturing – Adelabu

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2025

The Tide

The Federal Government, in partnership with state governors and private investors, has secured nearly $500m to establish solar manufacturing plants across Nigeria.

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this at the just concluded Nigeria Energy Conference, in Lagos.

Recall that the minister had announced that Nigeria had begun exporting locally manufactured solar panels to Ghana, marking a milestone in the country’s renewable energy drive.

According to him, following the recently concluded Nigerian Renewable Energy Innovation Forum organised by the Rural Electrification Agency, the government secured agreements worth nearly $500m with state governors and private investors.

The initiative, he said, would add close to 4 gigawatts of solar manufacturing capacity per annum, almost 80 per cent of Nigeria’s current total power generation capacity.

“At the recently concluded Nigerian Renewable Energy Innovation Forum, we successfully activated agreements totalling almost $500m with state governors and investors. What will this do? It will bring on stream nearly 4 gigawatts per annum of solar manufacturing capacity, equivalent to almost 80 per cent of our current national generation capacity,” he stated.

He explained that the deals would support local production of solar panels, batteries, and meters, reducing dependence on imports and positioning Nigeria as a key player in the regional energy market.

“Companies that will manufacture solar panels here and that will manufacture batteries and meters here, we can give them deposits. With this scale of renewable energy production coming online, Nigeria is not only positioned to achieve its domestic renewable energy transition targets but also to serve as the regional power market,” Adelabu said.

He said this would strengthen the export of renewables, a feat he said was achieved recently with Ghana.

“Nigeria will serve as the regional power market in terms of the hub, which we recently started doing with the export of Nigerian-based solar panels to Ghana just last month. Yes, we exported solar panels manufactured in Nigeria to Ghana, and we will not stop. We will be the hub for this, not just for West Africa, but for the entire African market,” he stated.

The minister noted that the move would have far-reaching benefits for the economy, including job creation, foreign exchange earnings, and faster deployment of solar energy infrastructure.

He added that training and empowering Nigerian youths in renewable energy technologies would be key to sustaining the progress.

Adelabu assured investors that the government was creating an enabling environment for private sector participation across the power value chain, particularly in transmission.

“Nigeria’s power sector remains open and ready for business more than ever before. The government is ready to provide the right and conducive atmosphere to make this environment investor-friendly.

“As rational investors, recovery of your principal and margin on principal are very important, and the way the power sector is configured, you will never lose your investment; you will be proud to be an investor in Nigeria,” he added.